Rice, who will turn 28 in September, caught just 15 passes for 231 yards in eight games before his 2013 season was ended after tearing his ACL in late October.

Rice had two years left on a five year, $41 million contract he signed in 2011. He was scheduled to make $9.7 million in 2014, according to spotrac.com.

With 19 players on expiring deals — including younger and more productive receivers Golden Tate and Doug Baldwin — the Seahawks needed to clear some cap room if they were going to keep their Super Bowl-winning roster relatively in tact.

The move gives Seattle over $10 million in cap space to re-sign players and lock up their draft picks.

Expect another cap-clearing move — the team could save another $7.5 million by parting ways with defensive end Chris Clemons — to help GM John Schneider reinforce an already talented roster while leaving money to extend Russell Wilson, Earl Thomas and Richard Sherman in the next year or so.